More than 2,000 Family Members attended Sunday night’s Corporate Awards Banquet, as we wrapped up the 2019 Whataburger Family Convention – and came together to recognize the best of the best.

Corporate Awards

• Area Manager of the Year: Jose Rodriguez, Area 5410 (2017); Joel Hernandez, Area 7320 (2018)
• Director of Operations of the Year: George Gonzalez, Zone 8400 (2017); Aaron Valdez, Zone 5400 (2018)
• Harmon and Grace Dobson Award: Marianne Dowdy, Vice President of Human Resources (2017); Mike Sims and Gary Sims, Franchise Support Managers (2018)
• Franchisee of the Year: John Heiman, Whataburger of Mesquite (2017); Chris Johnson, G.V.C.S. (2018)
• Franchise Key Operator of the Year: Chris Deters and Greg Deters, NCG Enterprises LP (2017); Micah Webster, Webster Enterprises (2018)
• High-Volume Unit (2017 & 2018) - Corporate: Unit 178, San Marcos, Texas; GM Greg Goolsby
• High-Volume Unit (2017 & 2018) - Franchise: Unit 1039, Dallas, Texas; Concessions Management Inc., Franchisee Gilbert Aranza

Thomas E. Dobson Awards

There are more than 800 General Managers in the Whataburger system, but only one can win the Thomas E. Dobson GM of the Year award.

It’s an honor bestowed upon a Family Member who delivers an unparalleled level of service to customers, Team Members and the community.

At the Whataburger corporate awards on Sunday, Chairman of the Board Tom Dobson recognized the GMs who earned this recognition for 2017 and 2018: Marsha Saxon and Richard Martinez.

Saxon, from Unit 931 in Pace, Florida, was recognized as the 2017 winner. Martinez, from Unit 790 in San Antonio, Texas, was honored as the 2018 recipient.

Congratulations to our winners! We’re proud of all your hard work and dedication to the brand. See you in 2021!

Texas brought the broom to the 2019 WhataGames in Houston, with three squads from the Lone Star State sweeping the restaurant competition.

Teams from Whataburger stores in Allen, El Paso and Lindale brought home the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, respectively. They also shared in prize money totaling more than $200,000.

At WhataGames, held every other year, 15-member teams from 22 restaurants show their skills in the final round of competition that tests them on everything from customer service to company history.

Separate games challenge maintenance technicians to find and fix restaurant breakdowns on the fl.

Just getting to the final round of WhataGames is an honor, says Paul Craig, General Manager of the gold-winning Whataburger in Allen.

“Bringing home the WhataGames gold and seeing the community excitement makes us all proud,” Craig says. “WhataGames is about getting rewarded for doing our jobs correctly. And we do our jobs well because we love our customers.”

Whataburger’s 2019 WhataGames winners are:

Restaurants

Gold: Unit 984, Allen, Texas; Area Manager Donald Beaton; General Manager Paul Craig

Silver: Unit 412, El Paso, Texas; Area Manager James Martinez; General Manager Christian Noya

Bronze: Unit 1036, Lindale, Texas; Area Manager Helen Liggins; General Manager Nancy McIntyre (DKT Investments Franchise led by Franchisee Doyle Thomas)

MSC (Maintenance Service Company)

Gold: Region 8000 (Rio Grande Valley Markets)

Peter Hernandez, Lead Tech; Joe Benavidez, Oscar Chapa and Robert Garza.

Silver: Region 2000 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana Markets)

Danny Wise, Lead Tech; Bill Castanon, Scott Foster and Mike Bradford.

Bronze: Region 9000 (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Markets)

Andy Collier, Lead Tech; Bryan Hicks, Anthony Halter, and Greg Edwards.

Picture the Olympics, only with burgers, fries and a side of motivation.

That’s WhataGames.

The Olympics, in fact, inspired this flagship Whataburger event. In 1996, as people across the world watched the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Whataburger leaders had an epiphany: What if they could harness Olympic-style competitive energy to motivate Whataburger Family Members?

And, just like that, WhataGames was born.

Since then, high-performing teams have gathered every two years to go for the gold.

How it has changed

At the first WhataGames in 1996, Family Members competed as individuals and the top prizes included a television, a trip and a personal computer. In 1998, the top prize was a brand-new pickup truck. The stakes were even higher in 2000, with each of the top five finishers receiving a new car.

Then, in 2002, WhataGames became a team event, and the winners started taking home cold, hard cash.

This year, more than $150,000 in cash prizes is on the line.

The tough but friendly competition is fun, but there’s more to it. The goal is to improve restaurant quality by building camaraderie and a deeper understanding of company procedures and culture. In short, the games grow knowledge – and that knowledge reaps rewards for the business as well as the Family Members.